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Chamber marks 100 years of promoting business

ESCANABA — On July 1, the Chamber welcomed guests to the Chamber’s Centennial Picnic and officially opened the U.P. Military Museum – home of the Honor Flight Legacy.

During the event, we took a giant step back to July 1st, 1921, when Delta County, like the rest of the nation, had just experienced “the Great War” where the Upper Peninsula lost 247 young men. President Harding, on that very day, signed the legislation to bring our remaining troops home.

The Spanish Flu Pandemic, that infected 500 million people, was just coming to an end and we were moving into the “Roaring 20’s” with “Hope on the Horizon.” The 1920’s was a period of economic prosperity, automobiles, telephones, film and radio, aviation, rapid industrial growth, and women won the right to vote.

According to the Escanaba Morning Press, the most inspiring meeting ever conducted for any purpose in Escanaba was held on July 1, 1921 to announce that business and industry were backing a modern Chamber of Commerce plan ~ they knew that the time was right to establish a Chamber because we would be “Stronger Together” – stronger together to help build a healthy economy and improve the quality of life in a beautiful waterfront community.

Now, one hundred years later, like the rest of the world, Delta County has experienced wars since the great war and a recent pandemic but the Chamber has never wavered from its commitment to work hard to ensure a vibrant and prosperous community for future generations.

Thanks to our members who are part of a supportive and generous community, active board members, and positive team members, there is “Hope on the Horizon” as we move into the next 100 years.

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Vickie Micheau is executive director of the Delta County Chamber of Commerce

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